


Ghosts

by stickyyfingers



Series: Pre-Release Shorts [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Cuddles, Drabble, F/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-Timeskip, pre-release
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 05:41:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19882555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stickyyfingers/pseuds/stickyyfingers
Summary: Dimitri has a nightmare.





	Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

> Cleaned this up from tumblr. Thanks to [dumb-bitch-boba](https://dumb-bitch-boba.tumblr.com/) from the Dimileth discord server for the prompt!
> 
> Note: This contains some speculations as to what happens during the timeskip, but I make no guarantees for their correctness.

Teal eyes stared up at him, through him, with a sickening emptiness. His breath stuttered. There it was, that familiar feeling, clawing itself up his stomach and ribcage, filling his lungs until he thought he was choking. _No. Nonono I’m sorry I’m so sorry I couldn’t—_

Knowing it was pointless, he crouched down anyway, feeling her slender neck for a pulse, a flutter of life, anything.

He had failed again.

He had—

He awoke with a start, gasping for air, hunching forward as the world around him slowly stopped spinning. Cold sweat ran down the side of his face, and he retched. A shudder wracked his sides. “Mmph!” He pushed his hand over his mouth, trying to keep quiet.

Next to him, there was a rustle of sheets. Then, a yawn. “What are you…?”

_Her voice…_ Slowly, he felt his frantic thoughts decelerate, his insides settling down, and with trembling lips, he released the breath he had been holding. His hand sunk down numbly.

Then, his limbs moved almost autonomously, pulling her into a tight embrace.

“…Dimitri?”

He shook his head. “I’m just… I’m only…” His voice cracked, barely recognizable to himself. The words seemed stuck to the back of his tongue, as if he hadn’t spoken in a decade. He grit his teeth, frustrated with himself, that he couldn’t be stronger than this.

Suddenly, there was a soothing hand at the back of his neck. “…Mitri. Tell me, what’s wrong?”

"I…” 

He brought his hands up over her shoulder blades, digging his hands into her nightgown. “I need to make sure that… t-that this is real. That you're real."

_Just let me hold you for a bit._

She didn’t respond, and instead turned around in his embrace. Cool fingertips touched his cheek, finding wetness that he hadn’t realized was there. 

He felt shame welling up, shame at his own weakness. At having her witness this. He should know better, do better. After all, he had gone through all of this, closed eyes that would never open again, eyes of foe and eyes of friend alike. Had had blood running down his arms like rainfall, the tangy smell of iron, a smell that he could never quite get to leave. 

And yet here he was, letting himself be fazed by something as mundane as a nightmare. He was pathetic. She deserved so much better than him. He—

“Shhh.” 

Her lips ghosted over his cheek, soft kisses against the tear tracks. “I understand. I’m here.” 

She continued stroking his neck for a while, slim fingers carding through sweat-matted locks. It could have been only a minute, or it could have been eons, that they sat there like this.

At last, she drew back, looking at him. In the dimness of the moonlight, he’d never seen a better sight than the teal of her eyes, shimmering alive and mingling with silver. “Stick… stick close to me in the next battle,” he said, before he could stop himself, and then bit his lip at such a sentimental request.

He could almost hear her smile. 

“Always. Someone has to watch your back, after all.”

Gently, she pulled him down again, and he let her, resting once more against the pillow. She laid her arm across his chest, and then settled her head in the crook of his shoulder. They stayed embraced like this. After a while, he fell asleep again.

That night, he did not have anymore nightmares.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my [fire emblem tumblr](https://dimilethdisaster.tumblr.com/) if you like!


End file.
